Swami B. V. Tripurari Live Q&A; January 5, 2025: Bitterness Has Its Place

Questions on today’s Swami call:

0:00 News.

0:00:28 It appears that narrations of Sri Krishna’s sakhya-rasa pastimes are easier to digest for beginners than the madhurya-rasa pastimes. Is this true?

0:12:13 Is the belief that one has to be psychologically balanced to enter Krishna-lila tantamount to karma-misra bhakti or the belief that one has to be accomplished in karma and jnana before practicing bhakti?

0:15:24 If a madhurya-rasa bhakta is preaching the glories of other rasas, might that sound different from when bhaktas in those rasas preach about the same thing, given the different vantage points?  

0:19:33 Is it offensive to believe that one has to be psychologically balanced to enter Krishna-lila?

0:20:18 Sometimes it is said that Narada Muni is a sadhana-siddha and at other times that he is a nitya-siddha. Can you explain this?

0:25:18 Did Sanskrit use to be spoken popularly or has it always been only an academic language?

0:27:04 How is it possible for demons to enter the lila?

0:31:27 Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura states in his commentary to Bhagavad-Gita 9.26 that a woman cannot make offerings to the deities during her period. Why is that so and in what other circumstances would women or men be unqualified to make offerings?

0:39:47 What is the referent of the word “self” according to Gaudiya Vedanta? Do individual jivatmas have unique forms?

0:45:35 If the jiva is a doer, what does it do?

0:52:36 As the jiva comes closer to the goal of bhakti, does its will express itself directly and naturally, uncovered by the mind?

0:54:55 Does the pure will of the jiva correspond with the siddha-deha?

57:02 Does the individuality play itself out in the material world?

1:03:13 Are some jivas destined to follow Advaita Vedanta?